Membership in the Socialist Party of Michigan / Socialist Party USA

The Socialist Party is a democratic, multi-tendency, and membership-based political party and activist organization, with continuous opportunities for involvement at the state, local, and national level. All Michigan residents holding agreement with the Socialist Party Statement of Principles are eligible for membership in the Socialist Party of Michigan.

The Socialist Party of Michigan is the chartered Michigan state party branch of the Socialist Party USA, holding statewide jurisdiction on behalf of the national Party. Accordingly, by joining the Socialist Party of Michigan, you additionally assume automatic national membership in the Socialist Party USA, as well as membership in any Socialist Party local branch whose chartered jurisdiction includes the area where you reside.

Membership in the Socialist Party includes:
-Full voting, motioning, and proposal-making rights at/in all state and local party membership meetings and conventions, national and state party referenda, and any national party commissions which a member chooses to join;
-Socialist Party membership card/annual dues-stamp booklet;
-Online subscription/posting-access to the SPMI members e-mail listserv, SPUSA members e-mail listserv, SPUSA members Facebook discussion group, and SPUSA members discussion board;
-Print subscription to the SPUSA internal discussion bulletin, Hammer and Tongs, the SPUSA National Office newsletter, The Organizer, and other party membership mailings/publications;
-Print subscription to The Socialist magazine (for members without at-home internet access).

Sliding Scale for Minimum Annual National Membership Dues:Sub-minimum: $35Tier 1: (annual incomes under $25k) – $5 a month or $60 a yearTier 2: (annual incomes between $25k and $35k) – $10 a month or $120 a yearTier 3:(annual incomes between $35k and 50k) – $15 a month or $180 a yearTier 4:(annual incomes between $50k and $65k) – $20 a month or $240 a yearTier 5:(annual incomes over $65k) – More than $20 a month or more than $240 a year

Monthly dues will only be available through setting up a regular credit or debit card payment. If a member’s credit or debit card is declined, they will be notified by the National Secretary and will immediately enter into the three month grace period.

We understand that a working class income will include working class expenses. Therefore, our tier model is a suggested guide and we encourage members to contribute a membership payment that is fully considerate of their economic reality.

We understand there may be circumstances where the applicant or renewing member is financially unable to meet the minimum dues requirement. In the event of financial hardship please contact the National Office at natsec@socialistparty-usa.org regarding membership dues.

Please Note: All received payments of minimum annual national membership dues are wholly transferred to the Socialist Party USA National Office and go exclusively to support the operations of the national party organization. Since the Socialist Party of Michigan state-party organization does not retain any portion of such minimally required annual dues, we strongly encourage all new applicants and renewing members to concurrently include a contribution (of self-determined amount) to the Socialist Party of Michigan when submitting payment of your annual national membership dues.

After reading the Socialist Party USA Statement of Principles, so as to ensure your substantive agreement therewith, please submit your membership application and annual membership dues, through either the SPMI online-application and PayPal account, or mail to the SPMI State Office P.O. Box address, as provided below.

If you are applying for party membership by postal mail, please send your printed/completed application and party membership dues to:

Socialist Party of Michigan P.O. Box 441076 Detroit, MI 48244

If you wish to include a corresponding state-party contribution to the SPMI when submitting your dues by mail, please either:
1) Submit your national membership dues and state-party contribution on separate checks or money-orders made out to “Socialist Party USA” and “Socialist Party of Michigan,” respectively, -or-
2) Combine the applicable amount of your national dues payment, and the self-selected amount of your state-party contribution, together on a single check or money-order made out to “Socialist Party of Michigan.”

You can also pay your annual membership dues directly online through PayPal. To pay your dues through PayPal, please simply return to this page after filling-out our online membership application, and click on the yellow “PayPal Donate” button located at the very bottom of this page.

If you wish to include a state-party contribution to the SPMI when submitting your annual membership dues online via PayPal, please simply add the self-selected amount of your state-party contribution to the applicable amount of your national membership dues, as the total amount of your PayPal payment.

(Payment of annual national membership dues may alternatively be divided into monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual installments. To set up an installment-payment arrangement for your national membership dues, please contact the SPUSA National Office).

Once your application is received, an elected member of the SPMI’s State Executive Committee (or local executive committee, where applicably chartered) will contact you to provide a general introductory rundown of the Socialist Party’s core principles and organizational structure, and correspondingly address any questions you may have, prior to officially processing your membership admission at the next scheduled state/local party membership meeting (or at the next state/local executive committee meeting if no applicable membership meeting is scheduled to take place within the following two week period).

We request that you submit your first year’s annual membership dues concurrently with your application, in order to allow for regular and expedient processing. A full and immediate refund of dues payments (along with any concurrently submitted state party contribution) is automatically provided in the very rare occurrence of any circumstance or issue serving to preclude or postpone an applicant’s directly following membership admission, or at any time upon a pending membership applicant’s request.

Meetings and events listed below are open to all interested members of the public who wish to attend. All meetings and events are free unless otherwise noted.